In a press release sent out today by Ubisoft, the publisher confirmed that Rayman Legends has been delayed for Wii U and would be coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in early September. While it's a stretch to say multiple platforms wasn't the plan all along, it is rather surprising that Nintendo lost initial exclusivity and the release has been delayed over 7 months as well.

Here's Ubisoft's marketing and sales manager Geoffroy Sardine giving some perspective into the choice to make Rayman Legendsmultiplatform:

"We heard from many Xbox & Playstation owners and Rayman fans who told us they really wanted to play Rayman Legends on their current system. We decided to give the fans what they wanted while at the same time broadening the audience exposed to this innovative and memorable game."

There's going to be a ton of sensationalism and controversy about how Nintendo lost exclusivity and how this is evidence of the Wii U being a bust. That's just lazy. Ever since Rayman Legends was initially leaked around last year's E3, it's been clear that it would be a multiplatform title. If anything, it's impressive that Ubisoft hasn't leaked the multiplatform news earlier.

Rayman Origins was one of Ubisoft's best multiplatform titles in recent years, performing well across the board. It's not surprising the title is multiplatform. It is surprising the game has been delayed, and makes me curious as to whether Ubisoft of Nintendo pulled the plug on initial exclusivity. Maybe the game simply wasn't ready for release, and Nintendo wasn't willing to pay exclusivity prices for a delay. Next-gen is only a few months away, after all.

Well, no matter what, Rayman Legends is coming to Wii U, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in early September. More than anything else, it's exciting that everyone will get to play the title now. The worst part about this is that now I have to wait 7 months to play the damn game. It was already delayed from the Wii U's launch! /cry